6.24.2005

parada ng lechon

one of the lechons which paraded in balayan, batangas

my day started a little earlier than usual today. i woke up at 4 am to make a very early trip to balayan, batangas. the town is celebrating its fiesta today in honor of St. John the Baptist, the town's patron. and for the first time, i was able to join in their festivities.

when i got out of the car, M, my sister-in-law, poured ice-cold water at me to welcome me to their hometown. since it was the feast of St. John, everybody tried to repeat the ritual of baptism, thus everybody was armed with a water gun or a pail or a tabo. good thing i came prepared and soon after, i joined them in pouring water to everybody especially the newcomers who were still dry. my brother's weapon was a big hose, a little smaller than what firemen use, but way bigger than a garden hose. we did this while we waited for the parada ng lechon, the highlight of the fiesta, to pass by M's house.

i lost count of how many roasted pigs were paraded today. they came in different sizes, decors, and positions. a float sponsored by san miguel beer positioned the lechon to make it look like it was drinking beer. the guys who were at the float poured beer on us instead of water!

one float sponsored by a machine shop made the lechon look like it was a welder, complete with mask and that thing used by welders (the one with fire at the end). there were a couple of other floats wherein only the skeleton of the roasted pigs were left...poor piggies.

after the long parade and after everybody was satisfied that nobody was left dry, we settled in for lunch. i had lunch at 3 different houses. the first was at M's house then we transferred to another house after which, we had dessert at another cousins' house. she wanted to bring us to a couple of other houses but i begged off. i didn't want to ruin my diet...wish ko lang!

probably at this hour, quite a few are having their blood pressures checked. and i bet, a lot of people did not forget to take their anti-hypertensive medications!